2004 feels like a long, long time ago. I failed to finish Killzone when I first picked it up for the PS2, getting slightly stuck midway through the game and (after about ten tries) kind of putting it on hold. Fast forward four years and I’ve (finally) revisited the game, playing it through my PS3 in order to be on top of what went on back then, before the sequel hits. I’m just that kind of guy. So, what did I make of it?

First of all, I’d like to point out that the game runs slightly worse through a PS3; the cutscene cinematics stutter over themselves, but are still easy to follow and some in-game things seem less polished. Or maybe I just have a selective memory.

To cut a long story short, you start off as Templar, a bad arse marine dude with fuzzy hair who is thrown into the conflict between the ISA and the Helghast. Conspiracies aplenty, the storyline is what you’d expect, while you never get the sense that a huge war is being waged around you. This is something of a let down. Things calm down and feel a lot more sparse after the first mission, which feels atmospheric and chaotic.

You encounter a few key battles as Templar before being joined by three others; Luger is a sharp shooting feline-figured woman wearing a balaclava and what looks like a Solid Eye device; Rico, a loud-mouthed knucklehead with a massive gun that he seems shy on using on anything with a pulse; and then, eventually, Hakha, a Helghan spy, working with the ISA.

From then on in you get to choose who you play with through each individual level, with each character having their own pros and cons. Billy Big Gun (that’s Rico to you) can blow the hell out of things but has no zoom; Templar and Hakha are two sides of the same coin, both well-balance; and Luger (who I used for most of the game – thanks for the tip Takeshi!) has a secondary fire on her custom weapon that sounds like a pea hitting a pillow and ends up being a one-shot kill much of the time. Plus, you have no limit on these, as long as the gun has main ammo.



As far as gameplay goes, Killzone is reasonably solid. Using different guns results in varied levels of recoil, with the standard ISA weapon suffering quite badly from it but packing quite a punch when on target and Luger’s silenced customised weapon having very little recoil but, as a down side, lots less ammo available. Secondary fire allows players to mix things up a little, with the Helghan machine gun doubling up as a shotgun while the ISA standard has a built-in grenade launcher.

Weapons vary but are grounded in some form of reality, ie. There are no plasma guns on show. You will often have to choose wisely about which guns to carry as you will only be allowed a maximum of three. This is particularly evident in one section, whereby you have a gun that pinpoints locations for air strikes (much like the binoculars in Warhawk) and the Helghast are rolling around in tanks. You must keep hold of this weapon but, with many others around on offer, do you accompany it with a shotgun, grenade launcher or Helghast assault rifle? It’s up to you but battles are won and lost on such decisions.



Friendly AI is pants. A friend of mine and I always pull a line from Shaun Of The Dead when attempting certain sections of Killzone: “Feel free to step in at ANY time!”. It’s like your buddies just pop the odd cap into the air for shits and giggles and are happy to watch exactly what you do, complimenting you on every kill you make. It can be frustrating, especially when paired up with the fact that enemy AI is pretty damn good. They hide from you just when you get them in your sights (even through a sniper scope) and are deadly accurate with their shooting.

Graphically the game looks quite dated, although cutscenes are pretty well made and the voice acting is spot-on - Brian Cox’s speech at the start (he plays Scolar Visari and is back for Killzone 2, yay!) is particularly immense – except for some in-game quotes that sound like they have been phoned-in. The general look of the Vekta is grey and dismal, which suits the theme of the game, although splash of colour is added when you hit the jungle and it gets a little sci-fi and spaceship-ish looking towards the end; a nice touch.

My main gripe about this game is the length. I must have been playing it for over 15 hours and, with levels getting slightly repetitive, it could have done with having five hours shaved off. The addition of a great multiplayer, on and offline/with or without bots (which are awesome), makes this even more plausible. But I would say, all in all, if you have the time before Killzone 2 hits, give it a go. Get acquainted with the Helghast before you are thrown in at the deep end at the end of February.

8/10, 'cause I said so.